Well-Being

The Center offers students opportunities to obtain access to quality health care; participate in practices that heal and lift up community; investigate and understand personal and shared identity; get connected to resources for daily living; connect with other students, and more. The Center includes:

The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being

The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being serves as a spirituality-centered space where students and broader community members can gather across the intersection of faith, spirituality, and their other lived experiences. The space prioritizes opportunities to explore holistic well-being as connected to spiritual and religious identities.

Office of Health Promotion

Using public health approaches and strategies, the Office of Health Promotion contributes to a culture of well-being at UMBC by providing evidence-informed health education, resources, and support that are responsive to the needs of our community. We help to empower individuals to make healthy lifestyle choices at UMBC and beyond. Within the Office of Health Promotion, the professional staff and the Peer Health Educators develop and implement well-being events, training opportunities, and health communications resources that support students in developing positive attitudes and behaviors toward health and well-being.

Retriever Integrated Health (RIH) (Health Services and Counseling)

RIH brings together University Health Services and the Counseling Center to work in a collaborative, holistic approach to support your well-being and success. RIH is an interdisciplinary team that includes administrative staff and a variety of healthcare professionals, representing disciplines of acupuncture, dietetics, massage, nursing, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and social work.

Student Conduct and Community Standards (SCCS)

SCCS works to maintain a safe and productive environment supporting the University’s educational purpose and students’ educational goals, enforcing and promoting the privileges and responsibilities associated with a student’s affiliation with the University. When interpersonal relationships are authentically strong and supportive, people flourish; healthy relationships contribute directly and indirectly to well-being. Student Conduct and Community Standards staff use restorative practices as a proactive community-building strategy. Staff also offer restorative practices training and Green Dot bystander training for all UMBC community members.

UMBC Dining Services serves the faculty, staff, and students on campus and offers variety and convenience. We pay attention to dietary sensitivities or requirements and do our best to accommodate special needs.

Financial Smarts provides students with the tools necessary to make informed and effective decisions about their finances. Managing money is an important part of daily life and we encourage you to be well versed in this important life skill that many find challenging.

Many students have trouble adjusting to the challenges of college life. It is quite common to feel anxious or concerned about your course work, social life, or the everyday pressures of being a college student and it is normal to seek help. Retriever Integrated Health takes a collaborative, holistic approach that combines best practices in clinical health, counseling, and public health, to support students’ mental health, well-being, and success. Staff utilize a range of options to match the needs and goals that bring students to our office, assisting students who are struggling with a variety of difficulties or concerns such as anxiety, relationships, depression, sleep, academics, family, addiction, and questions about identity. Staff also support students in identifying effective strategies for coping with their concerns.

RIH also offers on-campus, online, peer-to-peer, and other self-help resources, support groups, and workshops to help students care for themselves and to support their peers, and for faculty, staff, and parents/families to use as resources for their students.

UMBC has teamed up with the world-renowned Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to ensure students and their families have access to today’s most trusted addiction and mental health care resources. Hazelden Betty Ford’s programs and services integrate a patient-centered approach and evidence-based practices–delivered with the utmost respect and fierce compassion that make healing possible.

Hazelden Betty Ford provides a full continuum of clinical care and recovery support, including in-person and online options.

Questions? Reach out.

Hazelden’s prevention specialists and trainers work alongside students, school staff, families and communities to build life skills that last—whether surveying attitudes and behaviors, implementing new programming, assessing effectiveness or promoting greater awareness. Prevention experts are ready to listen, learn and work in partnership with you. Call 1‑800‑375‑2996 to get started.

If you are working with a young person who may need addiction treatment, Hazelden’s Referent Relations Team is the best place to start. They will serve as a liaison with the intake and treatment team and will collaborate with you on your client’s continuing care plan. Hazelden Betty Ford is in-network with most insurance carriers.

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation informational flyer

Direct Help/Support Line

1-888-348-7018

Hope@HazeldenBettyFord.org

Clinical Care and Recovery Support

• Assessment
• Inpatient addiction treatment
• Outpatient addiction treatment – virtual and in-person
• Mental health services – virtual and in-person
• Specialized treatment for opioid use disorders
• Specialized care for adolescents, teens, and young adults
• Recovery housing and sober-living options
• Ongoing recovery support

Services and Support for Families

• Family Program – for anyone impacted by a loved one’s addiction
• Children’s Program – for kids (7-12) with addiction in their family
• Free informational resources

Regular physical activity can contribute to physical, mental, and emotional well-being. UMBC Recreation and Fitness offers fitness equipment and classes, intramural and club sports, and more resources to help you stay active and connect with other students. These resources are free with your UMBC ID!

In the summer of 2016, Dr. Nancy Young brought together a graduate student, counselor, and campus minister, all of whom had concerns that there are UMBC students struggling with food insecurity. The group began providing free bags of non-perishable groceries to self-identified students through the counseling center. Quickly, this food security action team began to grow as other students and staff who wanted to support student success through proper nutrition joined the team.

The Retriever Essentials program serves UMBC students facing food insecurity. Visit our website for information on how to access food and other resources, or for information on how to help support this program.

In Need of Financial Assistance?

The Stay Black and Gold Emergency Fund provides short-term financial assistance for current UMBC students facing unexpected emergencies that could prevent them from continuing their education. This fund supports tuition and fees only. Funds are limited, and priority is given to students who have used all other financial aid options.

Important Details:

• Application period: The application to the Stay Black and Gold Emergency Fund opens two weeks before the start of the semester and closes on the last day of the semester. Apply through the Scholarship Retriever Tool.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Current enrollment:  Must be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student at UMBC.
• Good academic standing: Must have GPA of 2.0 or higher.
• Credit hours: Must have completed 12 credit hours.
• FAFSA: Must have a current FAFSA on file with UMBC Financial Aid and show high financial need.
• Exhausted aid options: Must have used all other grant and federal loan options. If you still have available aid, you will not be considered.
• Emergency situation: Must demonstrate a clear financial emergency or unexpected situation. If the situation is not clearly defined, the application will not be considered.

Important: You can only receive this grant once during your time at UMBC. If you’ve already received it, you won’t be eligible again.

For questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

Green Dot

The Green Dot program is a violence prevention and bystander intervention program led by the Student Conduct and Community Standards department here at UMBC. The goal of the program is to engage a critical mass of our community in a behavior change where violence will not be tolerated and the end result will be a reduction in violence. To find out more or to schedule a training visit, UMBC Green Dot.

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is a 1-day skills-based training course designed to teach members of the UMBC community how to recognize signs of a mental health or substance use disorders, identify community resources and link people in crisis to the proper resources. The evidence behind the program shows that people feel more comfortable managing a crisis situation and that it builds mental health literacy – helping the UMBC community identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health challenges. UMBC was the first institution in the country and in Maryland to offer this training to our campus community.

For Mental Health First Aid details and training dates, visit myUMBC.

Restorative Practices

In Residential Life and Student Conduct and Community Standards at UMBC, Restorative Practices is used by staff and students as a proactive way to build community and a responsive way to resolve conflict. For example, resident advisors use restorative tools, such as community-standard-setting circles, to build community and create ownership among residents.

When conflict occurs, Residential Life and Student Conduct and Community Standards support staff and students in engaging the restorative tools to resolve issues in a way that repairs harm and rebuilds trust. Training in using restorative practices in day-to-day life and in the UMBC community is open to all community members.

To find out more or to request a workshop, Student Conduct and Community Standards or Residential Life.

Retriever Peer-to-Peer

The Retriever Peer-to-Peer Listening Program is a pilot program designed to have graduate and undergraduate student peers provide listening and referral assistance to students. The program is not meant to supplement mental health services; Retriever Peer-to-Peer is intended to provide students with the opportunity to consult with peers and seek assistance for appropriate campus resources. Retriever Peer-to-Peer will enhance UMBC’s culture of understanding and inclusion.

Peer-to-Peer aims to create a safe space for the students at UMBC to facilitate listening and to be heard. Students can sign up online for for an appointment.